Higher Love
by WorkandHotdogs
Summary: The fire, then an explosion. Will he ever get to tell her how much he loves her? Nick/Zoe.


_**A/N: Hi guys, this is the first Nick/Zoe fic I've got around to writing in a while. It's inspired by the ep coming up tomorrow and also a song you may recognise from the LoveFilm advert. It's called Higher Love by James Vincent McMorrow. I'll apologise now as this hasn't been beta'd and I'm not entirely happy with the ending. All characters belong to the Beeb, I just enjoy playing with them.**_

The fire bells rang loudly through the air again. Nick sighed, assuming it to most likely be another false alarm. He stood though, grabbing his coat and scarf and went to aid the evacuation of the E.D. Everyone was bordering on agitated as they'd already been subjected to this twice today. Most didn't argue though, agreeing that it was better to be cold for a while than dead in a possible fire. Nick stood on the car park and watched as people flooded out of the doors. Patients, doctors and nurses all stood together, huddling like penguins to try and keep in some warmth. Noel and Big Mac were shepherding the stragglers out before they did a head count to make sure they had a number of people that roughly correlated to who should have been in the building. A few minutes passed and Nick noticed something very wrong. He knew straight away that four people were missing. Jay, Ruth, Dylan … and Zoe. A lump formed in his throat. He strode over to the doors and peered in. No sign.

Fire engines arrived within minutes after control had received no word from the fire officer – they could only assume he'd been injured. Firemen streamed into the building, pushing Nick backwards in the process. At this point he was merely a civilian and there was nothing he could do.

Dixie and Jeff appeared in the group. Noticing Nick seemed distracted, Dixie approached.

"Everything alright, Mr Jordan?"

He snapped to attention and looked at her quizzically. "Yes, fine. Sorry."

Dixie scanned the crowd, before speaking again.

"Zoe's still inside?"

Nick nodded. "Along with Ruth, Jay and Dylan."

"Bloody hell. They'll find them. They'll all be okay."

Nick gave her a half smile, but neither of them spoke again. Jeff stood next in line, and placed his arm around Dixie's shoulder.

Time passed steadily … more fire officers arrived and headed inside, whilst commanders had set up HQ in a corner of the car-park. Nick occupied himself by liaising with said commanders and talking with his colleagues. He rubbed his hands together, and brought them to his mouth so he could blow some heat into his numbing fingers. Once they'd thawed slightly, he thrust them into the folds of his pockets.

A few firemen emerged, and amongst them were a dishevelled Ruth and Jay clinging onto each other. They were wrapped in foil blankets by approaching friends before they were loaded into the back of an ambulance and taken away to St. James' for a check over.

Nick's heart was in his throat; there was still no sign of Zoe. Their relationship was nothing like it used to be; they were barely more than boss and employee these days. Sometimes, there were hints of the way they used to be. There was the odd bit of flirting and her smile would light up the room. He found himself watching her out of the corner of his eye whenever she was in his vicinity. It was like magnetism; sometimes they repelled, but sometimes when the alignment was just right there was nothing but attraction. He felt a smile creep across his face.

His journey through his memories was short lived – an explosion rocked the E.D. The crowd was swiftly ushered even further away from the building but nick defied them and moved forwards.

He was stopped by a woman. "I'm sorry, Sir, it's not safe for you to be here. Please go and join the others."

"The-," he stumbled on his words, "the woman I love is in there and I need to know you can get her out."

"We've located a woman and a man we believe to be Drs. Hanna and Keogh, trapped in resus. We're doing everything we can to get them out."

Nick looked confused, "How can they be trapped in resus? It has swing doors for god's sake!"

"From what's been reported it seems like a structural beam has fallen and brought down some rubble with it. It's stopping us from opening the doors. We've got some heavy duty kit being taken in as we speak."

"Please tell me she's okay, I mean there was the explosion …" Nick could feel the panic welling within him.

"Both of them are stable. Dr Keogh is fine, he has some superficial cuts. Dr Hanna has a head wound we're a little more concerned about but we're working as fast as we can."

Nick's heart was thudding in his ears. Head injury? How bad?

"Just make sure you get her out."

With that he turned on his heel and returned to the group.

Dixie had been watching the conversation from afar. There was only one explanation for why their Clinical Lead was so ansty and it wasn't Dr. Keogh. It wasn't a secret that Nick and Zoe had a soft spot for each other and Dixie felt a pang in her heart. When two people were so obviously made-for each other it seemed so unfair that life seemed to keep them apart.

She came to stand next to Nick and slipped her hand into his. He looked over to her, his face contorted in utter confusion.

"She'll be okay. Me and Jeff will take her over to St. James'. We'll take care of her."

Nick squeezed her hand, "I'm coming with you."

"No problem."

The pair of them stood in a comfortable silence. Just the contact of another human being seemed to help. He'd never thought it'd be Dixie providing the comfort although he wasn't complaining.

Shouts echoed into the now freezing dark . Nick ran as fast as he could. Dixie gave Jeff the nod and he headed off to get the ambulance ready.

"Zoe!"

She was walking with the support of the woman he'd spoken to earlier. He stepped forwards and supported her other side. Together the trio made their way to the ambulance. Dixie was already in the back and helped Zoe in and onto the trolley. Nick got in and sat down.

"Thank you," he said softly to the woman. She touched his arm and smiled before heading off to help Dylan. Dixie shut the doors and they were soon on their way.

Zoe's vision was hazy and her head was pounding. She groaned in pain.

"It's okay sweetheart, it won't be long until we reach St. James'," Dixie reassured her.

Nick touched her hand lightly with his fingertips. She grabbed them tightly.

Tears gathered in her eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Nick said softly, brushing the back of her hand with the pad of her thumb.

Zoe let a breath go and kept her eyes locked on him. She didn't think she was going to get out of that damn room. She thought it was typical that in trying to find a way out from their side, she'd lost her footing and hit her head on the way down. She thought of the occasion she'd tried to get out of a toilet cubicle when she was sizzled and ended up crashing to the floor. The pain was edging on that .. but at least this time she hadn't knocked herself out. Dylan kept her awake with his incessant ranting. Thinking about it, passing out probably would have been nice for some peace and quiet.

Finally, they arrived at St. James'. Nick and Dixie helped Zoe to her feet and supported her into the hospital. An examination and several scans would reveal all she had was a pretty nasty cut to her head and some minor concussion but no long term problems. They'd keep her in overnight for observation but after that she should be free to go home.

Nick sat in the chair next to her bed, still clutching her hand.

"I meant what I said before, Nick. I'm sorry."

"I know."

"I should have said it a long time ago. All I wanted, all I want is for you to be happy."

Nick felt the lump return to his throat.

"You make me happy," he whispered.

She rested her palm on his cheek. "Come here." Zoe scooted across as far as she could without falling and Nick climbed up beside her. She snuggled into his side.

"I acted rashly, Zoe. I shouldn't have behaved the way I did. I was just upset."

"I know. It's alright."

He turned his head so he could look at her.

"I love you," he said.

She smiled that smile he loved so much and kissed him.

"I love you too."

Nick smiled at her and they drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each other.

They left the hospital in the morning and took the first steps of their future, together.

_**A/N: So, there we go. There probably won't be a Nick/Zoe reunion in the ep so I figured writing my own ahead of time was a better idea. Hope you guys liked it.**_


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